A Game of Failure

On my way to church on Sunday, I was listening in the car to a local Sports, Talk Radio program where they were discussing different aspects of baseball. Something that the host of the program had said about the sport struck me as being a partially analogous description of evangelism, and I thought that the sentiment could serve as an encouragement to the Christian. Here’s what he said regarding lifetime, baseball, batting averages (paraphrasing)…

“Baseball is a game of failure. You can fail 7 out of 10 times over the course of your career, and yet… still be enshrined in the Hall of Fame.”

As I listened, what immediately came to mind was evangelism.

Evangelism can be a very scary notion for the Christian, due of the threat of failure…

“What if I say the wrong thing? What if they ask me a question that I can’t answer? What if I freeze up? What if I mess up?”

What if, what if, what if… It goes on, and on.

Here’s the thing though. Just as in baseball, where a lifetime of failure can lead to an eternal enshrinement in the Hall of Fame, a lifetime of unsuccessful conversions in evangelism (for the Christian), will still always lead to an eternal life with Christ. The point is, our potential failures in evangelism has zero effect on our eternal state. Only our position in Christ does. So, I ask…

What is keeping you from evangelizing?

Romans 10:11-14 (NASB)
“For the Scripture says, ‘Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.’ For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; for ‘Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?”

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2 thoughts on “A Game of Failure”

Loved reading the article. I struggle with the fear of failure too. There are time when I preach to others and the lesson is not taken too well and I end up getting criticized and persecuted. I feel at times that I may have failed God. But you have put things in good perspective. I feel that God wanted me to read this.